


You Can't Wake Up (This Is Not a Dream)

by Knightfalling_for_you



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Captain Canary, F/M, Fighting, League of Assassins - Freeform, Legion of doom - Freeform, Malcolm is (as always) a manipulative asshole, Manipulation, Possible spoilers for season 2, Totally copied from Arrow 3x21
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 19:44:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7587391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knightfalling_for_you/pseuds/Knightfalling_for_you
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Len grips the straps tightly, closing his eyes. A small part of him wants to believe that if he doesn’t look or listen, it won’t be real. He won’t be here.</p><p>But he knows all too well that it’s impossible to block out pain completely. That’s one thing, at least, his father taught him.</p><p>(The title comes from lyrics of Halsey's "Gasoline.")</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can't Wake Up (This Is Not a Dream)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

 

Len grips the straps tightly, closing his eyes. A small part of him wants to believe that if he doesn’t look or listen, it won’t be real. He won’t be here.

But he knows all too well that it’s impossible to block out pain completely. That’s one thing, at least, his father taught him.

“It is time for you to renounce your past life and forfeit your identity in the name of something new,” he hears Merlyn say. The words almost make it sound like Len has a choice, but he knows he doesn’t. One wrong move and the Legion will kill him easily. The only question is whether it’ll be a fist through the chest, an arrow to the eye, or having the life drained out of him slowly.

None of those are appealing. Neither is being their lackey, but it’s surviving, at least. Surviving gives you options.

“It is a cleansing only achieved by fire,” Merlyn sneers. _Oh, great, my favorite_ , Len thinks sarcastically. He tenses, ready for what comes next, knowing he’s not going to like it.

He’s right.

A brand is pressed into his back, burning his bare skin and the scars that cover it. Len’s usually not one to scream, but this time he has to bite his tongue to keep himself from howling in pain. He tries to remember the frigid cold in the engine room with Sara, but all he can think about is the searing heat against his skin.

Len briefly wonders what new wound they’ve added to his collection.

“Leonard Snart is dead,” Merlyn hisses, “eventually to be reborn as part of the Legion. But for now, only the ice, Aljalid, will remain.”

He’d better be wrong about that.

. . .

Everyday is a surprise, something Len hates. He never knows what the Legion has planned his training. He should’ve asked Sara more about League rituals, then he’d at least know how Merlyn’s methodology worked.

One day, he’s chained in a cell, doused in water as he’s reminded continuously that Leonard Snart is dead (something he’s all too aware of). The next, he’s forced to fight for his life against Merlyn or Dahrk. Sometimes he’s locked in his cell for days with only water. Other times, he’s given an odd-looking paste to eat. If he wasn’t in such deep shit, he’d ask for better room service.

The worst of it is the feeling of helplessness. He has to let the Legion carry out their plans, let them tell him who to be and what to do. He has to wait in his cell for countless hours with no way to tell the time, until he’s actually _glad_ to see Merlyn’s face, be lifted to his feet, and unchained.

There are two sides of Len now. There’s a side that still thinks he can con the Legion and betray them in the end, the part thinking he’ll find a way out, the same way Mick did when the Time Masters tried to reprogram him the second time. 

The other side just wants to get by, to survive. It screams at him that he’ll be better off if he leaves his old life behind, if he forgets about Lisa, Mick, Sara, and everyone else. It yells that the only way out is through the Legion, by becoming one of them. 

_What made you think you could be a hero? What made you think you could be anything but your father’s son, anything but a thief and a killer? You tried to change your destiny, look at how that turned out. The only heroic thing you’ve ever done is_ die.

It’s a voice that’s hard to ignore.

. . .

It takes three weeks for Aljalid to even disarm Merlyn. When you’ve been used to using a gun most of your life, learning to fight with sticks, knives, and even swords doesn’t come easily. Neither does learning hand-to-hand, which gives Merlyn the edge to win the fight, even after he’s weaponless.

“You’ve done well, Aljalid,” Merlyn says, a little surprised. It’s the first time he’s come anywhere close to losing. He glances over. “You don’t flinch anymore when I call you that.”

“Leonard Snart is alive only in the past. He’s forgotten,” Aljalid responds, staring Merlyn in the eye. He’s stating what is only the truth. 

“Indeed,” Darhk says with a wicked grin. “Now, as much as I’d love to watch another one of your fights, we have an intruder. Thawne?”

The speedster races in, a yellow blur to the naked eye. In his grip is a woman with blonde hair, dressed from head-to-toe in white leather.

“Leonard,” she says urgently, struggling against Thawne’s grip. “Leonard, it’s me, Sara. I’m going to get you out of here, I promise.”

“My name isn’t Leonard,” he says coldly, glaring at her. “It’s Aljalid.”

“No, it’s not. I know you, and this isn’t you,” she says, returning his gaze.

“ _Do_ you know the intruder?” Dahrk asks with a smirk.

“I did. Once.”

“Then it’s your responsibility to deal with disturbance,” Merlyn says. “Choose carefully, Aljalid. I promised to spare your sister in return for your loyalty.”

“Let her go,” Aljalid says firmly. Thawne glares back at him with blood-red eyes. “Do it.” The speedster glances over at Merlyn, who waves a hand, as if to say _Humor him._ Thawne releases Sara with a huff, throwing her to the ground. “And her staff?” A flash of yellow light and the bo staff is in front of her. “I won’t fight an unarmed opponent.”

“You don’t want to do this,” Sara says, standing up and gripping the staff. “You don’t want to fight me.”

He strikes when she’s still talking, not even bothering to reply. Her concern for him is a weakness (one of her few), and it needs to be exploited. She blocks his hit with her bo staff, a determined look on her face. She still thinks she can win this, can turn him around.

She can’t.

He uses one of his batons to knock her off her feet and to the ground. He doesn’t let her get up, but straddles her, using one of his batons to pin her neck down. 

“What, Snart?” Sara says, with a dry laugh. “Still trying to steal a kiss?” She flips him over easily, snatching his batons at the same time in one fluid movement. She stares at him, her beautiful blue eyes looking intently into his. “You have to remember Russia, Snart. This isn’t you. You were the one who told me I wasn’t a killer anymore. You told me you wanted a better future. You—”

It only takes few seconds to slip a knife out of one of his pockets and stab her swiftly in the torso. Then Aljalid flips the body over and stands up, trying not to think about the pit in his stomach or the fresh blood on his fingers. 

Then something strange happens. As Sara gasps for breath, her face changes, and she’s not Sara anymore. She’s an unfamiliar woman, dressed in a black League uniform. Aljalid blinks, confused as to who he’s just killed.

“The past three weeks, you've been exposed to a rare herb centuries old,” Merlyn explains, removing Aljalid’s knife from the woman’s stomach and wiping it off. “It causes your conscience to come to the forefront of their mind so it is the only thing that you see. The herb's effect is different for everyone. Some people see family and loved ones. Others encounter trusted friends or teachers. Who did you see?”

“No one important,” he lies, trying to forget the pain on imaginary Sara’s face when he betrayed her, the face he’ll be forced to see sooner or later. And it’ll be worse, because the real Sara is a much better fighter. She’ll take him down, and if he’s lucky, she’ll kill him.

If he’s not, he’ll have to kill her.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, I know it's pretty short. Feel free to use the LOA training idea if you like, I don't own it at all, and I'd love to read more fics about how/why Len joined the Legion of Doom. This was just my personal Captain Canary take on it.


End file.
